Roadblocks to navigate on road to participation in the system

I read the May 6 editorial “Fighting through the new iron curtain” with mixed emotions. The lack of participation of citizens in our governmental processes is more than just an issue of being an entertainment-based society. It seems to me that there are simply too many governmental entities for the everyday person to keep track of let alone attempt to influence. This is not helped by the difficulties one encounters when trying to find out exactly who his/her representatives are.

As one who has tried to identify and communicate with our representatives, the incomprehensible structures of legislative districts lead to total confusion. Congresspersons that block communications based on zip codes make contact even more difficult — they apparently don’t want to hear from the general public even though their actions affect us all. Local representatives may be easier to contact but knowing who they are is genuinely a problem for the everyday person that is occupied with the needs of family, work and church. Knowing the issues factually is also a problem because of all the noise of special interests who twist facts in advocacy of their position rather than allowing a clear, unbiased presentation of the truth (which has now become a nebulous concept).

By the way, the article about “Patriotic assimilation” right next to the editorial gives an even more intriguing explanation for the lack of public participation. Essentially the article says that our societal focus on ‘diversity’ has moved us from integration to disintegration of our American heritage resulting in an increase of special interests petitioning government for favors and favored status. This may explain the increase in self-centered participation more than the concept of being an entertainment-centered culture. Either way, our political leaders are not hearing from the majority of Americans and are prone to the impact from special interests rather than the general well-being of our citizens.